CNN’s New Owner Could Change the Game

The Pentagon chief said he hopes a billionaire named David Ellison will own CNN soon, thinking it might make the news better. Ellison owns a big movie company and is close to former President Trump. He wants to buy the network through his other business that already plans to take over a larger media group. The deal needs the current administration’s approval. During a long briefing about how CNN covers the Middle‑East war, the defense secretary worried that Ellison could push the channel to favor Trump. He called CNN’s coverage “fake news” and pointed out a report that the U. S. military had misjudged the risk to an important oil route.Ellison said on TV that CNN is a great brand and will keep its editors free to decide what stories to run. He bought another news network last year and hired a writer who is known for being critical of the media. That hire caused some trouble because she stopped a program that criticized Trump. It is not clear what role, if any, that writer will have at CNN. She might help decide the channel’s tone or stay with her current network. Some think that merging the two networks could happen after the sale. The president has said he trusts Ellison and his father to do the right thing with their news outlets, but he has also complained that a show on the same network treated him poorly after a takeover. CNN replied that it believes its reporting is correct and will not change. The debate shows how ownership can affect the news people see.